Michael Goro

"Urban Landscape," etchings

"Urban Landscape" presents an account of the artist's creative search for authenticity in constantly changing urban environments. What does a street in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), a canal in Venice, and a bathroom in a run-down, New York City apartment have in common? According to Goro, each place has had a history and an experience. They have been weathered by time and through use, and thereby have taken on a personality of their own from the people and the elements that have interacted with them. It is in a combination of these factors that authenticity is created. Looking for subject matter, Goro finds simple things that we see everyday, things that become symbolic once they are taken out of context. He experiments with the juxtaposition of places, faces, and architectural designs that reflect his diverse personal experiences. His story as an immigrant (two times in a row) is a vivid illustration of the end of the last century -- a time of deconstruction, discontinuity, and dislocation. "Urban Landscape" displays a number of Goro's recent prints, mainly black-and-white etchings. Etchings, more than any other medium, convey contradictory images by reducing them to the most basic color contrast. Goro's work provides the full spectrum of techniques ranging from renaissance engraving to contemporary photogravure.